Pierre Indian Learning Center is a residential Bureau of Indian Affairs grant school that serves Indian children in Grades 1-8 from 15 tribes in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska. Recently, the average enrollment of the school has been 165 students, referred by social service agencies or courts because of various family, social, learning, or behavioral problems. During 1989-91, the school pursued curriculum improvement by allowing the staff time and assistance to develop and implement a core curriculum. Fundamental to this process was a needs assessment in which the school board, staff, and community reached consensus on curriculum goals for the students. These goals were translated into measurable competencies for each grade level. Staff members developed scope and sequence charts for each curriculum area to illustrate the content and skills that they thought were essential for students. These "maps" were used to organize plans of study or competencies for each grade. During the second year, all staff members implemented the curriculum competencies. Monitoring and evaluation procedures included analysis of results of national normed tests pre- and post-core curriculum, yearly and quarterly plans for each class and student, daily and weekly lesson plans, computer-generated student profiles of competencies, and observation and guidance by a team of school personnel. (SV)